to think someone who sells themselves to do a job should be fit for it and do it well?

This morning I booked a cleaner, the previous two from the agnecy despite being asked to, missed out hoovering the stairs. I made a point of saying to her that I won't be paying her until I know she has hoovered the stairs due to previous experience.

She started trying to get out of it, saying the it was too heavy to hold a hoover on the stairs and that she had a bad back.

She is working as a cleaner for an agency, surely if your back is that bad that you can't carry a hoover, you are in the wrong job?

Later I asked her if she could pick up the white bits she missed in two area's of the floor, again, well I have a bad back complaints...

I was too scared to ask people like this things like this before...

I paid her £33 for three hours work, and it was better than previous two. She did living room, dining room, no high dusting, kitchen, halll stairs, landing and downstairs small wc in that time, she missed out loads I would be able to get done in my normal ability in that time frame, and the stairs need going over again really, a sloppy job was done, even the tv and telephone were missed out in dusting, and I can saw stuff the kids wiped on the fireplace still there, when I was putting ornaments back in the place they were moved from and not put back to.

I am in a bad way physically and I can't do these things myself at the moment physically and under dr's orders, I am a single parent as well so no one else to do the cleaning, and again the bathroom and bedrooms not touched, and the cleaner was stropping that I dared ask them do the stairs and to do a basic job of the floor.

You would need someone to come for two whole 8 hour days to clean the house that I can clean easily when the kids are at school in a day easily, at this rate!

I seriously think some people take the blooming piss who work for cleaning agencies, they do shoddy jobs, are very slow, want to do the bare minimum for the maximum amount of money!

Excuse me when I somehow get the crap off the hall floor, like bit of torn envelope, rubber and hair band that the cleaner left there.... I will have to max up on pain killers to get the fluff off the stairs carpet with a hard brush later, and make an attempt on the bathroom etc...

Just want to add, was nice to her when she came in, got stuff out, made her a cup of tea, and all that, then later said in a nice way about the stairs in a jokey way, and was met with the "hoover is too heavy to lift up comment"

YANBU OP I don't know one person who has an "I've found a really good cleaner" story but I've heard loads of terrible ones. I've no doubt there are plenty of good ones out there, they're just very very hard to find (and usually fully booked)

YANBU - if you hire someone to do a job and they aren't up to it, you don't have to pay them. And not being able to lift a hoover is a pretty major drawback for a cleaner.

The problem is, we sometimes have this weird culture of shame about hiring a cleaner, - as if we are being lazy Lady Mucks for not scrubbing our own front step. So if we complain that the job isn't done well enough, there is an embarassed part of our mind that says 'oh, hark at you, impossible to get the staff these days, is it?'. When the reality is that its a job like any other.

Perhaps the problem is going through an agency? The £33 is to the agency I assume with her getting a cut. Could you advertise locally for someone? If someone works for themselves,they may be better. Perhaps start a thread in housekeeping?

If you are paying for cleaning work you expect it to be done and if someone is supposedly a cleaner, they should be able to do the basic work involved, which obviously includes some bending down, reaching up, carrying a hoover...

I would be very annoyed in your position and would probably look at a different agency.

I was a bit worried about posting on here, I just needed to know if I was being unreasonable or not, and thankfully I am not, phew!

Boulevard, you are right, the fluff etc will stay on the stairs, or I will bribe a child to get the little hard brush out and gather it up for me!

I am going to make up a leaflet to put in a local shop window for someone privately, going to post in housekeeping to get advice on what is best to write, as the way I feel right now, I want to write, unreliable, sloppy or slow applicants need not apply

It seems like there are a great deal of cleaners out there who have little pride in their job, I have had all kinds of jobs in the past and I no matter what it was I had pride in the work I did and gave it as good a job as I could, shocking how many others don't feel the same way. I know as well over the years that my standards of clean/tidy are about average!

ah well, maybe I will hit lucky with one of those wonderfull cleaners that have been mentioned.

I too had a terrible agency cleaner - but I have had many excellent ones all SE. I think the agencies rip them off and take a fat cut and those who are better and have a bit more about them and see it as their job want the full amount (£11 is a lot and I am in London).

I didn't really want someone full time, I used agency for the odd one off here and there, I really should at the moment have someone regular, as had an accident a few months back and think I have slipped a disc the past two weeks, waiting for mri, so really should get someone to come regularly now.

I put my head in the sand as I don't want to be like reliant like this.